


And the Knight Asks the Squire

by Nightlightgoth



Series: Just Like a Fairytale [2]
Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Denial of Feelings, Eventual Fluff, Eventual Romance, Fire Emblem: Three Houses Blue Lions Route, Fire Emblem: Three Houses Blue Lions Route Spoilers, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Mentioned Blue Lions Students (Fire Emblem), Mutual Pining, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-21
Updated: 2019-11-21
Packaged: 2021-02-25 01:27:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,671
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21509140
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nightlightgoth/pseuds/Nightlightgoth
Summary: Felix and Ashe have feelings for each other. At least, that's what they said when they slept together weeks ago. Now, Felix isn't so sure.
Relationships: Annette Fantine Dominic & Felix Hugo Fraldarius, Ashe Duran | Ashe Ubert/Felix Hugo Fraldarius, Felix Hugo Fraldarius & Sylvain Jose Gautier
Series: Just Like a Fairytale [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1545796
Comments: 5
Kudos: 33





	And the Knight Asks the Squire

**Author's Note:**

> A sequel to my story "The Squire Asks the Knight" in a sense. I guess it's more of a continuation? Whatever. You don't have to read that one first to follow this one. It was just smut with feelings.

"You're whipped."

" _ What? _ "

Felix would give Sylvain about five seconds to take it back before he kicked his ass so hard the first Gautier would feel it. Unsurprisingly, Sylvain did not take it back. Instead, he mimed cracking a whip and accompanied it with a poor imitation of the sound. Felix swung his training sword hard and met his mark. Sylvain's leg buckled with the impact to the back of his knee. He collapsed to the floor of the training grounds with a grunt before bursting into laughter.

"Aw, come on Felix! I'm only kidding!"

"If you would stop 'kidding' for once, you might not have ended up losing for the third time today. Get up."

Sylvain stopped laughing and rolled onto his back, throwing his arm across his face with a groan.

"Get up!"

"Can't we take a break? We've been training all morning. I smell terrible."

Felix scoffed as Sylvain sniffed his shirt like he needed to confirm his statement.

"You can. I'm not finished yet."

"Hey, seriously, you're overworking yourself. What's going on?" Sylvain asked as he sat up, draping his arms lazily over his knees.

Felix slashed at the air in front of him without answering.

"Felix."

He turned on his heel and struck the dummy behind him and realized Sylvain might be right. His muscles burned with the motion, and the impact of the sword against the dummy sent lightning up his arm. He knew he should stop, and any other time he would. He wasn't one to push himself to the breaking point; it defeated the purpose, after all. Still, if he focused on his swordplay, he didn't have to think about --

"Fe!"

Felix whirled around and shouted, "What?"

"You look like shit."

Felix scowled, but he knew it was likely true. His hair was almost entirely out of its usual bun, what he hadn't stripped of his outfit was covered in sweat and dirt, and his skin felt hot from overexertion.

"Come here. Sit down and let me work my magic," Sylvain said, winking at Felix over his pun. Felix rolled his eyes but conceded, too tired to argue. He sat down beside Sylvain who handed him the water he'd left on the other side of the room earlier. He mumbled his thanks before taking a sip and had to remind himself to resist the urge to down it all at once.

Sylvain's hand hovered over Felix's arm. After a moment, Felix felt the familiar relief of faith magic working through his muscles. He sighed and let his body relax as Sylvain continued casting his spell. When he was done, Felix definitely felt better. He was still exhausted, but at least now movement didn't cause throbbing pain to rush over him.

"Okay, now that you're all fixed up, will you tell me what's going on?"

Felix leveled a glare at Sylvain and took another sip of his water.

"There's nothing going on."

"Yeah, sure, and I'm dating Lady Rhea. You know you can't lie to me."

"I'm fine."

Sylvain bumped Felix's shoulder with his own in lieu of asking again. Felix moved to stand, but his legs had apparently been replaced with jelly. He fell back onto his butt with a huff. Sylvain chuckled and inched forward to put his hands over Felix's calves.

"I won't help until you tell me what's wrong."

Felix groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose, then said, "Don't help then. I'll just wait until I can stand or send someone for Manuela."

Sylvain clapped a hand down on Felix's leg and gave him an amused look when he winced.

"Saints help me… Fine. If I tell you, will you drop it already?"

"You got it."

"You're the biggest pain in my ass."

Sylvain squeezed Felix's leg and said, "I know, but that's not what's bothering you this time."

"For once."

"Ouch."

Felix chuckled lightly and immediately regretted it thanks to the look Sylvain gave him.

"Hey, there's my Felix! Always enjoying verbally abusing me."

Felix shot him a look before registering the odd  _ something  _ in his eyes. That wasn't the matter at hand, though, so he stored it in the back of his mind for another time. He sighed and gestured to his leg.

"Go ahead, then. I'll tell you."

Sylvain nodded and started casting another spell. Once Felix felt it beginning to seep into his muscles, he looked away and took a deep breath.

"The problem is you were right, I guess."

"Wait, what? Really? About what?"

Felix scoffed. "Don't get so excited." He sighed and ran a hand over his face before fixing his hair, never looking at Sylvain as he did. Sylvain, for all his feigned stupidity and shortcomings, wasn't a bad friend. Far from it, really. He waited for Felix to continue without pushing him. Felix appreciated that for what it was and somehow found that it made it easier to continue explaining.

"What you said earlier about me being… Being 'whipped,' I suppose. I don't think I would call it that, but you've always been the crass one."

The spell faltered for a moment with Sylvain's concentration and Felix felt his face growing red again.

"Whoa, really? I was only screwing with you earlier! Who is it?"

"It's none of your business," Felix snapped. "The problem is that I don't exactly know what I'm doing."

"Well, you're lucky you have me then!"

At that, Felix finally looked at Sylvain again. The scowl on his face was enough to send Sylvain into another bout of loud laughter.

"You're an idiot."

"Yeah, but you're my best friend, so what does that say about you?"

"Call it a lapse in judgment."

"Wow, Felix. You really are in a bad mood over this."

"Obviously. It isn't like I don't have any experience! It's just been a while, and it's so troublesome. I would much rather be able to spend all my time training than dealing with a stupid crush."

"So why don't you? You don't have to do any of that courting mess. Honestly, you don't even have to date this mystery person. Why not just ignore it?"

"I'm impressed, Sylvain. I expected you to suggest I bed them immediately."

Sylvain ran his hands through his hair and Felix realized that his legs felt solid again. In a moment he would later consider a  _ real _ lapse in judgement, he shoved that fact aside and stayed put.

"Come on, Fe. You know that's not really how I feel."

"I know."

Sylvain gave Felix a weary sort of smile, then shrugged and his usual cocky grin replaced it.

"Well, whoever it is must be pretty special to get you so worked up. I don't think I've seen you actually interested in someone like this in years."

"Again, that's the problem. I've spent so much time focusing on training. A sword feels more comfortable in my hand than someone else's. I don't know what I'm doing. It's ridiculous. I can't get him out of my head, and I feel like a useless fool for it." Felix dropped his face into his hands, realizing his mistake a moment too late.

"Oh, so it's a guy, huh? That narrows things down a bit."

"Shut up."

"Okay, so this guy is pretty important to you."

"I guess so? I don't know."

"He clearly is. You're worried because you don't know how to handle it, so I'd say he definitely is."

"Okay, fine. He is. Whatever."

Felix looked up again when he felt Sylvain's hand on his shoulder. He tried to push it away, but Sylvain wouldn't budge. All at once, the training grounds felt too small. He hated showing weakness, and as far as he was concerned, admitting to a  _ crush _ was a ridiculous vulnerability to show. Damn Sylvain and his magic. He should have just dragged himself to the sauna and let the steam relax him. Better yet, he should have just gone back to his room and ignored the threat of dealing with other people lecturing him for overworking himself.

But he hadn't done either of those things, and if he was honest with himself, he knew why he hadn't. Part of him did feel better after getting his problem off his chest. He still felt absurd for letting it  _ be _ a problem, but he had accepted that he had to deal with the situation, especially after that impulsive night a few weeks before. He still couldn't believe he'd done it. He  _ really _ couldn't believe Ashe had.

The thought made Felix's skin feel too warm and he swallowed hard, trying to collect himself before he put himself in a very bad position. Now was definitely not the time for tight pants. Sylvain would never let that go if it happened. Instead, he stood and dusted himself off.

"I told you the problem. I'm leaving."

"Hey, wait!"

Felix didn't stop for the footsteps following him, knowing Sylvain would catch up easily. By the goddess, why had he said anything? He was never going to hear the end of this.

"I'm done talking about this."

"Fine, okay, I get it. Can I ask just one more question?"

Felix stopped and spun on his heel, arms crossed over his chest. He raised a brow and tapped his foot.

" _ One  _ more, and then we're not talking about it again."

"Deal."

"Well? Spit it out."

"Have you told him?"

Felix's eyes grew wide and he looked away again, hoping that traitorous blush rising to his cheeks once more wasn't as visible as it felt. At least a minute ago he could get away with saying it was from his training or the fact that the training grounds didn't have the best lighting. Out here in the midday sun after Sylvain had already fixed him up, he was out of good excuses.

"Yes. I have. Now drop it."

"Alright, alright. Consider it dropped. Why don't we go get lunch? I'm starving after all that work."

"You barely tried."

"Magic is pretty draining, you know. Which reminds me: didn't the professor suggest you start studying reason?"

"I don't understand why, but yes."

"How's that going?"

"Terribly. I would much rather just use my sword."

"Well, Mercedes is helping me with my faith work. Why not ask Annette for help?"

"Hm. Maybe."

***

Asking Annette for help turned out to be both a wonderful idea and a terrible one. On the one hand, there wasn't a soul in Fódlan that could deny the peppy little ginger was talented with magic. She was so good at it that Felix felt almost inspired to study it earnestly. The only hindrance to that was the fact that, well, Annette was a strange one to figure out in his mind. After catching her impromptu concert in the greenhouse by accident, Felix had become terribly confused over how she saw him. One minute she was avoiding him, and the next she was practically bouncing around her room as she prepared to help him study. Still, Felix had asked her and she had graciously -and enthusiastically- helped him a few times a week since.

He had all but managed to get his little problem out of his mind when Annette sent his head spinning. He had walked up to her room like he had started to do regularly at this point, hoping for a bit more help learning Thoron, only to find her standing outside of it already. She rocked back on her heels and clasped her hands together over her chest, and Felix's first thought was to turn and flee. Nothing good ever came from Annie doing  _ that _ .

"Oh, no you don't!" Annette said when Felix started to leave. "We have plans!"

Felix tugged his sleeve out of her hand and asked, "We?"

"Yep! Mercie and I are having tea with a few of our friends, and that includes you!"

"Funny. I don't recall agreeing to this."

Annette started to pout, and Felix felt a most annoying tug in his chest over it.

"Felix! You did, too!" Annette stomped her foot and balled her fists at her sides. "You promised you would have tea with everyone if the professor picked Dimitri for the White Heron Cup!"

Felix blinked before sighing and shaking his head. "I wasn't being- I didn't think the professor would actually- Fine. A promise is a promise. Who are we having tea with?"

Annette beamed and looped her arm through Felix's as she started to tug him down the hall, much to his chagrin. The thought of seeing her pout again, though, was enough to keep him from pulling away.

"Besides us, Mercie, Sylvain, Ingrid, and Ashe! Nobody else could make it."

"Did you say Ashe?"

"Sure did!" Annette giggled, and Felix couldn't help but wonder if there was a reason for that beyond her usual bubbly demeanor. "You two haven't been hanging out as much as you used to, have you?"

Felix shrugged, but frowned at the  _ problem _ rearing its ugly head again.

"Ashe and I are really good friends, you know. He seemed kind of upset when he mentioned not seeing much of you."

Felix glanced down at Annette, then quickly looked away when her big, innocent eyes met his. What was with those two and their doe eyes? Annette always seemed to look at the world with such innocence and love that Felix almost envied her. And Ashe… Felix didn't care for eye contact, but by the goddess he couldn't resist staring when Ashe batted his lashes and smiled wide enough for his eyes to sparkle. Felix would never admit it, but those two sets of sweet green eyes were going to make him come undone if he didn't keep himself focused.

"I've been busy," Felix said. "You know that."

Annette sighed and they turned the corner leading to the gardens.

"I guess so. You should spend more time with him, though. He'd really like that."

"Yeah," Felix said as the table full of his classmates came into view. Sylvain smiled, Ingrid looked surprised, Mercedes seemed rather pleased, and Ashe lit up in that way he always did. There was a tug in Felix's chest again, and he suddenly remembered his own words from that night that seemed almost impossible now. He'd told Ashe he wanted to keep seeing that face, that he wanted to be the reason for it. And yet… "I'll try, I guess."

And yet, Felix had been all but avoiding him for weeks since. Ashe never seemed upset with him, but Felix couldn't honestly say he'd paid enough attention to see anything below the surface. He wanted to be the reason Ashe looked so happy, so why was he keeping him at arm's length? He'd even told Sylvain that he was frustrated that he didn't know what he was doing, but even he knew that ignoring him was definitely not how things like this work. So why was he doing it?

He was deep in thought over it when he sat down. Being pulled out of his head was jarring when he realized that it was because Ashe's hand had just barely brushed his when he took his seat. How had he not noticed he was sitting beside him? Ashe smiled warmly, and Felix just nodded. He didn't look at him long enough to see his reaction.

Why, though? Why  _ didn't  _ he look at him? That's all he wanted to do, right?

Unless it wasn't.

If all he'd wanted was to satisfy a ridiculous hormone-fueled urge, that would explain it, right?

Felix took a breath and glanced at Ashe when he wasn't looking. His heart stayed steady and his mind stayed clear. That was it, then. All those stupid thoughts were just that: stupid. He didn't have to think about Ashe if he didn't want to. He didn't have to let the naive knight-in-training occupy his mind all the time anymore. He wouldn't let those bright eyes distract him.

He decided he was wrong; he didn't feel anything in particular for Ashe at all.


End file.
